GULF SHORES, Alabama -- After sharing with fans at SEC BeachFest on Saturday the story of Bear Bryant's reaction when he decided to take the Auburn job in 1981, Pat Dye on Sunday recalled another conversation he had with his old boss shortly after taking over on the Plains.

"He said, 'I guess you're going to want to take the Auburn-Auburn game to Auburn,'" Dye said of Bryant. "I said, 'We're going to take it to Auburn.' He said, 'Not as long as I'm coaching.' I said, 'You ain't going to coach forever.' He said, 'We've got a contract through '88.' I said, 'We're going to play '89 in Auburn,' and we did."

Auburn beat a previously unbeaten Alabama team 30-20 in that first-ever meeting at Jordan-Hare Stadium, a game that will live on in Auburn lore and that even some Alabama players said they will never forget. Dye said that even as big as it was for Auburn to host that game, moving the Iron Bowl out of Birmingham may have helped Alabama even more in the long run.

"If you look at what's happened since '89, I would say that it's a great thing for Auburn but Alabama has really benefited more from it than Auburn because it got their games out of Birmingham," he said. "Now the Alabama fans have a game-day experience that they couldn't have in Birmingham around Legion Field -- tailgating and getting back on campus. Look at the facilities that they've built since 1989. I'm sure it's just like it is at Auburn, they have benefited from an academic standpoint also because of all the money that football generates.